


You know what happens...

by Zarla



Category: Phoenix Wright
Genre: Innuendo, M/M, Prison, invading someone's personal space, veiled threats
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-09-09
Updated: 2006-09-09
Packaged: 2017-10-06 04:23:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,142
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/49652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zarla/pseuds/Zarla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>THEY MEET IN JAIL that's all I got folks. Gant creeps Yanni out with his doubletalk about sexing. Yanni does not pick up a word of it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	You know what happens...

**Author's Note:**

> I have never been in a jail in my life but I am pretty sure that this is not an accurate portrayal in some ways. In my defense, the Phoenix Wright law system is not an accurate portrayal either so darn it prisons can have couches and poker games and you can get off my back man what's your problem  
> Also on a more serious note I have not played the game in a while, and in particular I have not played the fifth chapter in a while, so I don't really remember how Gant talks. Not so much the gist but I don't remember his specific speech patterns. I went by memory which hopefully isn't too far off. HOPEFULLY YOU GANT-PURISTS OUT THERE WILL CUT ME SOME SLACK ON THIS considering the rest of the subject matter i'm going to hell

There was this ratty, torn-up old couch in the lounge that he liked. It was mended with silver duct tape, mysteriously stained in several places, and one of the legs was broken and missing, presumed thrown away. As a result, the couch listed to one side slightly so it had been propped up against a wall, near the small card table where the occasional poker game would take place.

The cushions weren't high-quality, but they kept in warmth. The way that the couch rested against the wall meant that if you sat near the end, the wall could support your back. The fabric wasn't very soft, but after spending time sleeping on prison cots it wasn't particularly noticeable.

It was a good napping couch.

Yanni knew the value of a good nap.

There was talk that they'd eventually throw the couch away, considering that prisoners were the only ones who used it and it was in such bad condition, but they never went through with it. At least, they hadn't so far. The area was small and only a few prisoners were allowed in at a time, so there usually wasn't much to bring the couch to attention.

There was the fact that it was well-known that Yanni napped on the couch frequently, but no one particularly cared.

About him or the couch, really. That was what Yanni was used to, and it didn't bother him anymore. He'd had fifteen years to learn how to deal with isolation and being ignored, and he'd found his ways.

He didn't sleep as much as people thought he did.

But he did sleep a lot.

Days in prison blurred into nothing, as most of Yanni's later life had done. Time served and vanished. The same repeated daily routine until one day he was napping on the couch and something unusual happened.

Someone touched his foot.

It took him a while to wake up nowadays, as his body was slowing down in more ways than one, so he thought a bit about what had just happened. Did someone actually touch his foot? Did he really have to wake up for this?

A few more seconds and he decided that yes, that was kind of strange and he should probably see who did it. Maybe he had to go back to his cell or someone wanted something from him.

"Mmrf..."

"There we go! Come on, wakey wakey!"

Deep, booming voice...happy sounding...Yanni opened his eyes. A mass of orange in front of him which could have been anyone, given their prison uniforms. His vision was always bad when he woke up. He blinked a few times, waiting for his eyes to cooperate with him again as he tried to focus on where the voice had come from. He recognized the voice, but didn't understand the context...why would he be talking to him?

"That's right, Yanni-boy, come on! Up and at 'em!"

Yanni blinked and finally got the colors to settle right. Dark skin, white and gray hair, something like two times his body mass...

It was that Gant fella for sure.

That wasn't good.

Gant's never-failing smile and sudden, rather loud laugh made Yanni nervous...he always felt like Gant knew something or was planning something. Not to mention the fact that Gant had a good amount of weight and size on him...even if he stood up to his full height, Yanni still fell well short of matching Gant.

To say he felt intimidated by him would be an understatement. Gant made him nervous and uncomfortable, not only because of his physical advantage, but because of just how positive he seemed about everything he said and did. Yanni wasn't sure how genuine that was most of the time...he'd heard about Gant's explosion in court, rumors about what he'd done and he could sense that there was something darker there. Otherwise he wouldn't have been sent to prison after all.

Gant hadn't shown much interest in him before now, except to clap his hands and call out his name and laugh when he jumped, so this sudden attention struck Yanni as worrisome. He hoped Gant didn't want anything, or wasn't just here to hassle him. His experience at the prison so far had been pretty good about that...no one really had the heart to give an old man a hard time, which he was thankful for.

Gant, though...

Yanni could see clearly now and Gant was smiling that unnerving smile of his, with just that glint of menace behind it. It was faint but he was almost sure it was there and it wasn't just paranoia. Yanni shifted uncomfortably and tried to draw his foot away from Gant's hand, which was surprisingly warm, but Gant tightened his grip and Yanni instinctively stopped.

"My, it takes you a while to wake up properly, doesn't it?" All with a big smile on his face, and Yanni felt more and more uncomfortable. A quick glance around the room showed-

"Everyone else has already left, Yanni-boy." Gant grinned and adjusted his spectacles with one free hand. "There's a guard nearby of course, but our friends have already gone on to other things." Gant then got that earnest, serious expression which was still unnerving, although Yanni could never place why, and leaned forward towards him. "To tell you the truth, I'm kind of glad that they left. I wanted to talk to you privately, you understand."

Yanni shifted again, his muscles slow to respond and a little achy, which wasn't unusual, and he felt a slight shiver run through his body. Delayed adrenaline, or maybe just nervousness, he wasn't sure. Had Gant heard about how it was all an act? Did he know? Yanni kept his doddering old man facade while he was in prison, primarily because it was the persona that he was most comfortable with. He'd spent fifteen years in it, after all, and it did have its uses.

Did Gant know? Was Gant toying with him? Testing him? He could never tell with him. What did he want?

"Mm...why'd you want to do that?" Yanni's words shook, but it was easy to blame that on age. He hoped that's how Gant would take it...he was sure that Gant knew he was afraid of him, but he didn't want to show it if he didn't have to...

Gant stared at him for a few seconds, his expression serious and his eyes piercing, and Yanni kept eye contact with him through sheer force of will, although he couldn't muster up his typical vacant smile. Was this another test? What was he trying to do? Why wouldn't he say something?

Yanni was about to start rocking back and forth, a compulsion that usually showed up when he didn't know what else to do with himself, when Gant abruptly leaned back and laughed, a big booming sound that filled the entire room and made Yanni start. Gant's laughter came so suddenly and without warning...and it was so _loud_.

"Ho ho! Yanni-boy, you are the living end!" Even though he was laughing, Yanni wasn't sure if Gant was actually pleased with him or his response. His laughter really meant nothing as far as his real motives were concerned...perhaps that's why Gant made him so nervous. Yanni could just feel it, that there was something beneath all of Gant's joviality and friendliness. Something dangerous.

Yanni rubbed at his eyes, hoping that if he focused on something else for a few seconds he'd be able to think more clearly. He was being paranoid... "I don't know what's so funny...jus' wanted to know why y'wanted to talk to me and all...not a lot of people real interested in an old man, yup..."

Gant's grip tightened on his foot sharply, and Yanni jerked his hand away from his eyes to look at Gant with a mixture of surprise and confusion. Just as quickly, the pressure faded, and Gant's expression didn't change at all. Yanni knew it happened, he knew he didn't just imagine it, but nothing in Gant's behavior indicated it occurred at all. This did nothing to calm Yanni's nerves and only enflamed his paranoia, as he had no idea what that gesture could have meant, but it certainly couldn't have been anything good.

"Is there something wrong with two inmates spending some time together?" Gant asked him with a smile, although there was a distinct hardness in his eyes. A hint of something real, and Yanni looked down at his shaking hands.

"No, guess not..." he mumbled weakly. He could blame the shaking hands on age too...he wondered briefly if he could fake a nap to try and get out of the conversation, but he had a feeling that Gant would see through it, or just wake him up again...

"Now Yanni-boy, let's get down to business." Gant tugged at his hair for a second before turning on Yanni again with that sharp gaze. "Have you made any friends here? You know, true blue companions, stick by you through and through?"

Yanni was deeply confused by the question, but had enough experience acting that it didn't show on his face. He knew at this point that Gant was not going to relinquish his foot for...whatever reason, so he just stretched his toes underneath his grip, which was getting hot and somewhat uncomfortable.

"Mm...I've talked to some of the people here, yup...don't know what you really mean by friends, tho'..."

"Mmhmm, mmhmm." Gant didn't sound as though he was listening, although he still had that broad smile. He rubbed his thumb along Yanni's ankle which again made him stop moving. Another warning, and Yanni wasn't sure why Gant wanted to keep touching him like this. He hadn't been touched by anyone for years, the only exception being when Polly sat on his arm sometimes. The contact was only working to amplify his nervousness. Maybe that was Gant's intent. "Don't you have any real chums here, Yanni-boy? Some good pals that are watching over you?"

Was this some strange way of rubbing his face in his relative isolation? Gant couldn't know that much about his past...was he just being paranoid? This conversation wasn't just what it seemed to be, he was sure of it. Yanni scratched his head.

"I guess not...I mostly look out for myself, ayup. Have been for years..." Yanni trailed off, surprised that Gant could even make out his words with how soft his voice had become. Gant got that serious, thoughtful look on his face again, as if he was conspiring with Yanni against the world. It seemed somehow manipulative, although Yanni couldn't say exactly how.

"That's a real shame, Yanni-boy," Gant said with his most earnest expression. "It's dangerous here, you know? Real hardened criminals. Aren't you a little nervous?"

Yanni was tempted to say that it was _Gant_ who was making him nervous, but he knew better.

"I suppose...it's a risk I got to deal with though, bein' here and all..."

"Kind of leaves you vulnerable, doesn't it?" Gant stared at him and although his face had the same sincere expression, his eyes were hard. The hand on Yanni's foot tightened for a split-second, another sudden gesture that made Yanni start slightly.

"Um..." Gant wanted something from this conversation, from him, but Yanni still didn't know what it was, and he felt confused and out of his league. More than anything he wanted Gant to leave him alone and go harass someone else, but he doubted that was an option at this point. "I guess...er, got the guards..." Yanni lost his train of thought as the pressure on his foot increased, but he swallowed and decided to try to keep talking. Gant still stared at him, waiting for him to keep speaking. "Got the guards...keepin' an eye on what's goin' on, so...if there's any trouble, they can help me, yup..."

"But they're not there all the time, are they?" Gant's voice was low, and he kept staring. Was this a kind of protection racket? People had tried to pull that with him and his boat shop, and they usually used lines similar to this...was that what Gant was trying to do? At least with his boat shop he could contact the authorities, right now...

He was just shaking.

"Guess not..." Yanni mumbled.

Gant leaned in close towards him, enough so that the full gravity of his stare made Yanni feel very small and out of his depth. Yanni wanted to back away, but the couch's arm prevented him from leaning back any further. He could almost feel Gant breathing on him, and he closed his eyes and wished this encounter could be easily dispelled with a quick nap, fake or otherwise.

"Er..." Yanni was willing to say anything just to get Gant to stop staring at him like that. He looked...what was the word he was looking for...? He knew it, there was some word for how he looked at him, but he couldn't find it...

Gant, again without the slightest warning, pulled away from Yanni and started laughing again. He even let go of Yanni's foot to clap for a few moments, although he swiftly replaced it before Yanni could bring his foot in towards himself.

Yanni now felt distinctly shaken and he hoped a guard would come in to interrupt this soon. Someone had to be able to tell how distressed he was at this point...

"You'd better be careful then!" Gant said through his laughter, then turned to Yanni with that smile. "There are all sorts of cutthroats around here, you know! Could be dangerous for you. You're a little frail, if you don't mind me saying so."

Yanni looked to the windows, the door. He could see the silhouette of the guard watching the corridors, the occasional turn of his head as he checked on the two of them, but no help was forthcoming from that direction.

Was that some kind of veiled threat?

"Don't know why you're concerned about me so much..." Yanni's voice was shaking badly now.

Gant stared at him without a smile for fifteen seconds, and it was the most nerve-wracking fifteen seconds that Yanni could recall in recent memory.

Then just as quickly, that grin was back and it was like nothing happened. "Just looking out for my fellow inmates, Yanni-boy! You don't look like you keep yourself in very good shape, and I'm just concerned you'd make an easy target for some of the undesirables here."

Another hard squeeze of his foot, and this one almost hurt. Yanni was sharply reminded of the fact that a good portion of the mass that Gant had on him was muscle.

"Erm..." Yanni didn't know how to respond. If this _was_ a veiled threat, what was he supposed to say? Agreeing to his frailty seemed odd, but he couldn't disagree...Gant was right, essentially. He made a quiet, unhappy noise at the pressure on his foot though.

At the soft pained sound, Gant's smile quirked just a bit, too quickly for Yanni to decide what it meant.

"What you need is some protection, Yanni my boy. Someone to make sure you don't get roughed up too much." There was a glint in Gant's eye, and Yanni felt an instinctual desire to get away. The momentary tug of his foot was quickly stopped by Gant's grip tightening in response.

"Er, you applyin' for the job?" Yanni said much to his surprise, and he hoped he hadn't just made a dreadful mistake.

There was no pause before Gant's laughter this time. Big booming laughs that echoed around him, that he could feel through Gant's fingers against his skin and the shaking of the couch cushions.

"Ho ho ho! Now Yanni-boy, don't get excited! I was just wondering aloud, that's all!"

Yanni looked down, scratching at his mustache lightly.

"You were just talkin' about it so much, got me thinkin' that's what you were gettin' at..."

"I'm flattered, really." Gant didn't sound flattered, only amused. He stared at Yanni with a smile that more approached a smirk than anything else and a distinctly pleased air about him, as if Yanni had just done something marvelous. "Not that I couldn't do the job, of course. I'm sure you know that I could do it, thus why you asked, right Yanni-boy?"

"I...guess..." Yanni just wanted the conversation to be over at this point. He didn't like how talking with Gant felt. There was an undercurrent of deep manipulation in his words, of somehow being exploited without his knowledge and Yanni did not care for it. He'd had enough of that in his lifetime.

"I just wanted to know if you had anyone watching out for you. A real good friend here, that's all. Shame you don't have anyone." A momentary pout, and then the smile was back. "I'll make you a promise though, if it'll make you feel better. If I ever see someone else giving you a hard time, I'll put a stop to it. How's that?"

That grin and Yanni stared at him, trying to make the shaking stop as a sobering realization hit him. What if this wasn't a manipulation for a protection scam at all, but rather a test to see if Yanni had any defenses against _Gant himself_.

Gant didn't wait for a reply. He laughed and clapped a hand on Yanni's shoulder and the weight and force of it caused a ripple of mild pain through his shoulder, neck and chest.

"Great! Glad to be working with you, Yanni-boy! I'm sure we'll become good friends."

Gant stared at him, grinning, and Yanni tried to think of something to say. "Er...t-...t-thanks I guess...I..."

Yanni trailed off again. Gant's hand on his foot had started moving while Yanni was speaking. It was slow but smooth and confident, and it merely slid from Yanni's ankle up to his mid-shin.

Yanni felt an involuntary rush of heat to his face, mingled with the now overwhelming amounts of confusion, panic, and fear, and then Gant was standing and smiling at him like nothing had happened.

"I guess I'll be seeing you later! Ho ho! Looking forward to _working_ with you, Yanni-boy." Gant turned and smiled at him, tugged at that dangling bit of hair and then he was off and walking like they had shared the most normal conversation in the world.

Yanni stayed frozen on the couch, staring after where Gant had left with his mouth open, and he realized what the word he'd been looking for had been.

Predatory.

Yanni curled up into a ball and wondered how difficult it would be to get sent to solitary confinement on short notice.


End file.
